After Guglielmo della Porta (Porlezza 1515 - 1577 Rome) Italian or Spanish, circa 1600

This polychrome terracotta relief depicting the Pièta is derived from a design conceived around 1570 by the Italian sculptor Guglielmo della Porta who had adapted drawings of the same subject by Michelangelo.  

The earliest known use of Della Porta's composition outside of Italy is found in a silver relief made by Rodrigo de León in 1581 for a pax kept in the Treasury of the Cathedral of Cordoba's in Spain. The relief also influenced the work of El Greco who probably saw the composition during his time in Rome. The most significant clue to the dissemination of the composition in Spain is its inclusion on the altarpiece for the Cathedral of Pamplona, completed by the sculptor Domingo de Bidarte (1561- circa 1632). The present example is notable for its very fine gilding and polychrome, executed in the Spanish style.